Significant investment for two projects against Chagas disease

The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund has announced an investment of nearly $9 million for various projects related to addressing infectious diseases and Neglected Tropical Diseases. The Japanese organization will allocate $1.7 million of this amount to continue two projects related to Chagas disease: one of them for the implementation of LAMP tests in Argentina and Bolivia, and another project focused on the discovery of new drugs.

Trypanosoma cruzi-LAMP: A molecular point-of-care test for the control of congenital Chagas disease – from prototype to product

ISGlobal will work alongside the Japanese company Eiken Chemical, the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) of Argentina, the SANIT Foundation (Bolivia), and Wiener Lab to license the Trypanosoma cruzi-LAMP test for the control of congenital T. cruzi infection in Argentina and Bolivia, and later commercialization by Eiken and Wiener.

LAMP is a rapid and simple molecular diagnostic test for detecting Chagas disease, facilitating early detection in resource-limited areas.

Hit-to-Lead Optimization of Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Chagas Disease

DNDi is joining forces with Eisai, the National University of La Plata (UNLP), the INGEBI Foundation, and the IMPaM Institute in a project that aims to contribute to the discovery of new drugs for Chagas disease. This work builds upon the findings of a previous project to identify compounds with favorable profiles, and subject them to cycles of design, synthesis, and profiling, before undergoing final testing.

GHIT will contribute approximately $0.6 million to the LAMP diagnostic registry project and $1.1 million to the development of drugs for Chagas disease. The Japanese has invested more than $40 million in global health R&D since its inception in 2013, a result of a public-private partnership between the Government of Japan, multiple pharmaceutical companies, the Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Go to the Press Release.